Friday, October 12, 2012

Unique position of Lord Shiva

Lord Shiva has a very unique and significant
position in the cosmic manifestation. In fact Lord Shiva is the most powerful, second only to Lord Vishnu. Shiva is
an expansion of Lord Krishna. Revealed scriptures explain that Krishna has 64 qualities.Lord Brahma posses 78% of these qualities and
Lord Shiva possesses 84% of these
qualities. Since living entities are also like Brahma so they also possess
78% of these qualities but in lesser extent. None of them possess all 100%.

Srila Prabhupada explains, “The living being can never possess attributes
like Shiva, Vishnu or Lord Krishna. A living being can become godly by
developing the seventy-eight-percent transcendental attributes in fullness, but
he can never become a God like Shiva, Vishnu or Krishna. He can become a Brahma
in due course: - Srimad Bhagavatam
1.3.28 purport”

Lord Shiva has connection with the material nature but
Lord Vishnu (or Lord Krishna) is transcendental to material nature. The position of Lord Shiva is very
beautiful explained in Brahma – Samhita (Verse 45),”Just as milk is transformed
into curd by the action of acids, but yet the effect curd is neither same as,
nor different from, its cause, viz., milk, so I adore the primeval Lord Govinda
of whom the state of Shambhu is a transformation for the performance of the
work of destruction”.

The scriptures like Srimad – Bhagavatam, Brahma –
samhita, Padma – Purana etc. explains the position of Lord Shiva in this
universe.

1.Srimad – Bhagavatam (S.B) (12.13.16) states vaisnavanam yatha sambhu i.e.
Lord Shiva is the best of the Vaishnavas, the devotee of Lord Krishna.

2.S.B (6.3.20) informs us that Lord Shiva is one of the 12 Mahajanas, the authorities on Vaisnava
philosophy.

3.In S.B 4.24.76, Lord Shiva states that if anyone reads his Rudra geeta prayer then he will invoke the
mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna.

4.Lord Shiva tells his wife that he drank hala hala, the
poison which came out during the churning of the ocean, to please Lord
Vishnu.(S.B. 8.7.40)

6.Lord Shiva got bewildered when he saw the female form of Lord
Vishnu, Mohini Murti. Lord Shiva later reveals that he is unable to
completely understand the illusory energy of Lord Krishna. This is stated
in S.B. (8.12.10).

7.When Krishna displayed his Universal form then Arjuna said: “My
dear Lord Krishna, I see assembled in Your body, all the demigods and various
other living entities. I see Brahma sitting on the lotus flower, as well as
Lord Shiva and all the sages and divine serpents.” Bhagavad-gita (11.15).

8.During Lord Krishna’s pastimes in Vrindavan, Lord Shiva
wanted to participate in the rasa – lila dance along with the cowherd damsels
and he desired to become a gopi.

Braham Samhita (verse 10) clearly establishes that Lord Shiva derives his power from Lord
Vishnu,“The person embodying the material causal
principle, viz., the great lord of this mundane world [Maheshvara] Shambhu, in
the form of the male generating organ, is joined to his female consort, the
limited energy [Maya] as the efficient causal principle. The Lord of the world Maha-Vishnu is manifest
in him by His subjective portion in the form of His glance.”

Lord Shiva is neither
an avatara nor avesha and is also not in between them. Lord Shiva is the
greatest demigod, even greater than Lord Brahma. He is the spiritual master of the entire universe. He has his own spiritual
line (sampradaya) called the Rudra – sampradaya. At present this sampradaya is
represented by Vishnusvami-sampradaya, or the Vallabha-sampradaya.